Late penalty shot boosts Silvertips

EVERETT — Twice the Everett Silvertips had a chance to put Friday night’s game against the Spokane Chiefs away with a penalty shot.

The first attempt backfired. But the second one got the job done.

Reid Petryk converted a penalty shot with less than three minutes remaining, and Austin Lotz played another stellar game in goal as the Silvertips skated to a 3-2 victory over the Chiefs at Comcast Arena.

“It’s not very often that you get two opportunities,” Everett coach Mark Ferner said. “But at the same time it was probably the correct call on both of them.

“It was our older guys who, at the end of the day, gave us a terrific effort and gave us a chance to win.”

Everett was awarded two penalty shots in the third period. The first came with 8:26 remaining when Manraj Hayer was brought down on a short-handed breakaway while the Tips led 2-1. However, Spokane goaltender Garret Hughson denied Joshua Winquist’s attempt — Hayer was shaken up on the play — and the Chiefs tied it up later in the power play.

But the Tips received a second chance when Petryk was tripped up from behind by Chiefs defenseman Reid Gow while on a breakaway.

“I fell down at the back of the play and I was a little late getting back,” Petryk, who finished with two goals, explained about how he got open for the breakaway. “It was a good play, it was a nice rim, and I just got the puck and the guy took me down.”

Then on the attempt Petryk skated in slowly before sliding a shot into the corner to restore Everett’s lead.

“It was a little nerve wracking, but I just kind of shot it along the ice and it went in,” Petryk said.

“I thought we played really well,” Petryk added. “I thought we worked hard and finished our checks. It’s a big two points. We’re feeling confident right now, and hopefully we can keep this going.”

Winquist also scored for Everett (16-23-0-2), which has won three of four since the holiday break.

Everett also received another excellent effort from Lotz. Lotz, the reigning Canadian Hockey League Goaltender of the Week, finished with 33 saves. He made several sterling stops during the final two periods, when Spokane had the better of the scoring chances.

“Lotzy is playing unbelievably,” Petryk said. “Hopefully he can keep playing the way he is right now.”

Mike Aviani and Blake Gal scored for Spokane (24-13-1-0), which dropped its third straight. Hughson made 23 saves in net for the Chiefs.

During a chippy first period, Everett opened the scoring at 13:39. The Chiefs turned the puck over in the neutral zone allowing the Tips to break the opposite direction. Landon Oslanski skated the puck into the zone, made a nice move wide around a defender, then fed it out front, where Winquist redirected it past Hughson to give the Tips a 1-0 lead.

Everett doubled its lead 1:50 into the second period. Kohl Bauml made a nice turn behind the Spokane net to free himself, then fed the puck out front for Petryk to slam into the corner, making it 2-0.

Spokane got on the scoreboard at 6:09. The Tips turned the puck over breaking out of their own end, and Aviani was able to skate into the zone and flip a backhander into the top corner to make it 2-1. Spokane had other chances later in the period, but Lotz made several good saves to keep it 2-1.

After Hughson stopped Winquist’s penalty shot, the Chiefs tied it 39 seconds later. Todd Fiddler’s one-timer deflected off Gal and looped over Lotz, making it 2-2.

Slap shots

Everett gave a WHL debut to 15-year-old defenseman Kevin Davis, the team’s first-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. As a 15-year-old, Davis is only eligible to appear in five games until his midget season is complete. … Everett’s three players on international duty, defenseman Mirco Mueller (Switzerland, World Junior Hockey Championships) and forwards Tyler Sandhu and Ty Mappin (both Team Pacific, U-17 World Hockey Championships), have all completed their tournaments, but have yet to return to Everett. … Spokane was without head coach Don Nachbaur, who is an assistant coach with Canada at World Juniors. Assistant Jon Klemm ran the bench in Nachbaur’s absence.